BANGKOK, Thailand — The Criminal Court has handed down a historic sentence against businessman Prasit Jeawkok, ordering 1,210 years in prison for orchestrating illegal loan schemes that defrauded the public.
Prasit, former chairman of the “Return Goodness to the Land” project, faced charges alongside his companies, Nuea Lok Co., Ltd. and Web Sawasdee Public Co., Ltd., as well as several associates. Prosecutors from the Economic and Resource Crime Division accused the defendants of fraud, violations of the Public Borrowing Act, and breaches of the Computer Crime Act.
The court found Prasit guilty on 242 counts, each carrying a five-year sentence, totaling 1,210 years. The companies were fined 121 million baht each, later reduced to roughly 80 million baht for partial cooperation. The effective combined sentence for Prasit was 806 years and 8 months.
Another defendant, Wimgrit, was convicted of supporting the scheme, receiving 37 counts at 3 years and 4 months each, totaling 111 years and 148 months, later reduced to 74 years, 8 months, and 29 days.
Under Thai law, the maximum enforceable prison term is 20 years, meaning both Prasit and Wimgrit will serve 20 years each. The court also ordered the companies and Prasit to jointly repay damages to 267 victims.
This is Prasit’s second historic sentencing. On July 3, 2023, he was previously sentenced to 1,155 years in another fraud case, although the maximum enforceable term was capped at 20 years. In that case, he and his associates were ordered to repay more than one billion baht to victims.
